


A Many Splendored Thing

by j_gabrielle



Category: Da Vinci's Demons
Genre: Alternate Universe-Modern Setting, Angst, Domestic, Established Relationship, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-14
Updated: 2013-06-14
Packaged: 2017-12-14 23:02:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/842369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/j_gabrielle/pseuds/j_gabrielle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 snippets in Leonardo and Girolamo's rocky path to happiness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Many Splendored Thing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [happyhighs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyhighs/gifts).



> For happy highs who wanted a domestic modern!au without them being too out of character. I hope I delivered on that last bit. *w*
> 
> Title taking from the popular saying/quote/book title/movie title 'Love is a many splendored thing'

1.

Leo winces, his fingers flexing slowly. “You idiot.” Riario says softly, hands methodically wrapping. “You didn’t have to punch him for me. I could have handled him myself.”

Leo doesn’t doubt that in the slightest. Riario is the shoe-in for the national fencing team after all. Plus, he has been on the receiving end of some of his most vicious right hooks in the not-so distant past when all they had in common was a mutual contempt of the other.

“Ow.” He murmurs mournfully when Riario makes a knot, patting it once. The idjit might be a master at the sabre, but it still felt good punching the living daylights out of that asshole who had insulted Riario’s abilities to win that coveted gold.

Even though that one punch had probably cost him a couple of commissions courtesy of the sprained wrist and the scrapped knuckles, it was still worth it.

“Next time, don’t try to be a hero.” Riario tries for anger, but what comes out is a helpless frustration. He lets his head fall onto Leo’s shoulder, sighing. “You don’t have to be everyone’s hero.”

He smiles, reaching up with his uninjured hand to thumb lazily at the soft hairs of Riario’s nape. “I don’t want to be anyone’s hero but yours.”

* * *

2.

When Riario comes home to the sight of Lucrezia sprawled on their couch, clutching a tub of ice-cream like it is her last lifeline, her eyes a puffy red, tear-stained and liner smudged, it was logical for him to pause and wonder if he’d just entered some Dali-esque dream sequence.

“Leo?” He slips into their little kitchen, eyes still on Lucrezia as she alternates between laughing and crying at the Adventure Time episode playing on the TV. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on right now?”

Leo shifts on his feet, grimacing. “She broke up with Lorenzo. This time it looks like it’s going to be permanent. Apparently, he proposed to Clarice last night.”

“And she’s currently mainlining ice-cream in the living room of her ex-boyfriend, why?”

Riario watches the play of emotions on Leo’s face just before he answers. “Because she has nowhere else to go, Ri.” He says softly, “We were friends before we hooked up, and as much as I want to hate her for sleeping with Lorenzo while we were together, she’s still my friend.” Pausing for a beat, he adds, “And she’s also your cousin.”

“Please don’t remind me.” Riario bristles, eyes narrowing at Lucrezia who has dissolved into loud tears. The fact that he is currently living with one of Lucrezia’s former conquests is only second to the other fact that he is gay, and it is still rumoured to send some of his Great-Aunts into fainting fits whenever his name is mentioned. Their relationship has been at the heart of some of the more heated arguments between Riario and his fanatical Catholic family.

Leo’s arm around his waist is entirely unexpected, as is his smile pressed against the collar of Riario’s shirt. “You don’t have anything to be jealous about.” He pulls his reluctant boyfriend close, whispering softly. “I don’t love her anymore. I haven’t in a very long time.”

Riario remains stoic in his embrace, but at the sight of Lucrezia bawling when Finn came on screen, his lips quirked slightly. “She can stay. But I want her gone by the weekend alright?”

Leo answers with a manic grin and a quick kiss.

* * *

3.

“It’s your turn to get the milk.”

Riario scowls over the top of his morning coffee, brain still trying to catch up with the waking world. Leo is pouting sadly at him from the pantry.

“I don’t have milk for my coffee.” Leo states, pouring mini-mountains of sugar into his own mug, whisking it in with a fork. “We have sugar, condensed milk, evaporated milk, cream, maple syrup, but _no_ milk. Ri, I have an urgent requirement of the milk. I want milk. I need milk. Get me the milk.”

It is then that his mind decides that it will comply and begins to come alive. Riario takes in the state of the living room covered in newspaper and the three newly painted canvases in the corner.

“How long have you been awake?” He asks, alert. Setting down his mug, he moves to Leo, grabbing him by the arms and taking in every single twitch and harried breath.

“Thir-36 hours? I don’t… I can’t remember. Just had to finish the painting.” He stammers, eyes darting everywhere but to Riario’s face.

Prying Leo’s death drip on his mug, he drags him into bed, dumping him on the unmade covers. Riario pulls a fresh change of clothes from Leo’s drawer in the dresser, tossing them over to him. “Strip. Change.” He orders, seeing the bruise like shadows under his eyes crinkle when Leo chuckles breathlessly.

“If you’d wanted sex, you could’ve just said so.”

“Shut up asshole.” Riario snapped, dropping into bed next to him. He tugs Leo’s shirt over his head, throwing it in the general direction of the laundry hamper. “You’ve been up for way too long.”

Tucking his body around Leo’s, he makes sure to angle his body in a way that pins him to the bed. Before, Leo would have protested and tried to escape back to his projects, but after that one incident involving the kitchen knives and the bathroom door, Leo is more than compliant whenever Riario tells him to do certain things.

“Don’t you have practice today?” Leo asks, burying his nose into Riario’s hair. He can feel his hands moving to rest on his back.

“It’s not important.”

“The upcoming qualifiers for the 2016 Olympics? Not important?”

“Not as important as you.”

* * *

4.

Riario’s eyes are hidden behind his Ray Bans, mouth pursed in displeasure. Girls in barely there dresses sashay past them, once a safe distance away, turning back to ogle his Armani clad ass.

Leo doesn’t really know whether to laugh at the obvious discomfort the attention is causing his boyfriend, or to jealously plaster himself to Riario’s side and claim him publicly for himself.

“I can’t believe you talked me into this.” He seethes, arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Well, _I_ for one can’t believe that you’re uncomfortable with the scrutiny despite being an athlete.” Leo smirks, taking a drink from his bottle of beer. “You get mentioned in the papers every day or so. Shouldn’t you be used to it by now?”

“Unlike you _artista_ , I tend to avoid making a public spectacle of myself every single time I walk out the door.” Riario snarks back, angling his body posture so that those looking their way would not look twice at their closeness.

Leo laughs, reaching an arm over to pull the other man into a half-embrace. “That is true, my dear. But you owe me a wedding date after I agreed to accompany you to the Governor’s ball last week.”

He catches the brief grimace on Riario’s face, but it only serves to make him smile even wider. “We’ll leave as soon as it is socially acceptable to.” He relents finally, “You might not like them much, but they’re still my friends.”

Riario sniffs once, but leans into Leo, swiftly stealing his beer. “Fine.”

In the distance, they can hear the music starting. “C’mon sour-puss.” He chuckles, guiding them to the garden area where the ceremony was being held as the guests begin to take their seats.

Leo brushes a kiss against Riario’s cheek, and slipping away to Nico’s side as he waits in an out of the way corner.

“Are you ready?” He asks, sweeping away invisible lint from Nico’s shoulders.

The young man barks a nervous laugh. “No. Not in the slightest.” His blue eyes flicker, “Do you think I’m making the right decision? Marrying, I mean.”

Leo is startled, unsure of how to answer Nico. “Do you feel like running away? Abandoning everything here, and just taking off?”

He sees Nico swallow, frowning as his mind begins to work out an answer. “I… I feel like grabbing him and jumping on a plane to some place not on the map and marrying him there. I hate the fact that we have to do _all this_ …” He jerks his head at all the flower arrangements.

Laughing, Leo pulls Nico close and kisses his forehead. “You’ll be fine.” He pats his cheeks.

“All rise.” The minister says a moment later, and the guests stand, anticipating.

Nico is dressed impeccably in a dark blue suit, golden hair swept back, a high blush on his cheeks. “Breathe.” Leo leans over, whispering into his ear. “I’m right here, and he is waiting for you at the end of the altar. You are going to be fine.”

He can tell Nico doesn’t quite believe him, so he knocks their shoulders together. “At three okay?”

They do not trip on the walk there and nothing remotely embarrassing happens save for one of Nico’s great-aunts bursting into wails when they pass her. The band plays in tune and the weather holds as they drew close to the minister and Zo.

He links his arm with Nico’s. Zoroaster has no eyes for anyone else but his groom next to him. Zo cannot stop smiling, and Leo will swear later on, that there was a hint of suspicious glossiness to his eyes.

Leo does not stop smiling too, winking at his friend and nudging Nico to stand in front of his future husband. Nico looks as if he could faint, but the moment he takes Zo’s hands in his, it is as if everything that has bothered him and made him nervous up to that point dissipates into thin air.

The ceremony goes on without a hitch, although Leo catches a few of the young  ladies in the crowd dabbing at their eyes surreptitiously when Zo says ‘I do’. Nico looks radiant, smiling as they kiss and walk out to the shower of confetti and petals that catch in their hair.

Riario and he stay far longer than they had expected to, and it does make Leo wonder a little. “You alright?” He asks quietly, slinging an arm around his shoulders.

Riario does not answer immediately, eyes watching Nico and Zo take the floor for their first dance. “Do you ever wish we were a little more like them?”

“What? Lovey-dovey, PDA?” Leo chokes on his drink. “Are you alright, Ri?”

His boyfriend remains silent, and Leo lets the couple on his right take his attention. It isn’t until later on as night was turning into dawn when they undress for bed, tucking their tired bodies close, that he realises that there might be something wrong after all.

* * *

5.

“Get this one.”

Riario tosses him another can of baked beans, snatching the one already in his hands away and putting it back on the shelves. Ever since the wedding, he has been acting out of sorts, and their fights have escalated to the point whereby Riario is spending more and more time at the athlete hostels, and less at their home. Leo would wonder if Riario has finally gotten tired of him, and whatever they had, but he knows that for all the man’s prickliness and cutting words, Riario would never hurt him. At least, not in that way.

Unfortunately, being enemies before lovers meant that Riario knew the buttons to push when he was angling for a fight.

“What’s wrong with _that_ one?” Leo bristles, raising his voice a little hysterically. He was tired, and all he wants is to go home and melt himself into Riario on their bed. “Have you even stopped to consider that I might possibly want that particular brand? Or that perhaps this one might taste detestable? We’ve been buying that brand for ages, why are we changing now?” Stopping himself, he takes a calming breath of air. “What’s wrong Ri?” Leo sets the basket on the cold white floor of the canned goods aisle, reaching for his boyfriend. “You… I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s up.”

Riario keeps his eyes on the shelf, jaw twitching. Finally, he moves. Grabbing the can of beans he had placed with its’ brethren, he throws it to the shopping basket, turning smartly on his heel and marching away.

Leo tamps down the burning well of anger, frustration and tears.

The ride home is silent, neither one looking at the other. Leo makes a grab for the groceries, stomping up the steps before Riario could reach for them.

“Leo.”

“That’s nice.” Leo croaks, swallowing back the bile. “I see you still remember my name.”

Riario enters his field of vision, blocking his path to the fridge. “Leo, please just… I don’t want to fight.” Leo sighs, hands not letting go of the milk.

“Neither do I. But it seems to be all you want to do these days.”

A warm hand covers his, and it is all he needs to relinquish the cartons. “I’m sorry.”

Leo’s eyes widen, head snapping up to look at Riario. He is looking at their feet, mouth pursed. Brown eyes shaded, sad.

“Ri?” Leo tries. “Why are you apologising?”

Riario breaks away then, long legs carrying him to the other side of the room. “I thought I could do this! I thought I could… I don’t know what I thought then, but it certainly wasn’t this!” He shouts, grabbing at his hair. “I can’t sleep, I can’t blink, can’t breathe… Everything I do…!”

He pauses, chest heaving. Riario places his hands on the side of the sink, eyes staring out the window. “It’s all I can do.” He whispers brokenly.

“What is it?” Leo says softly, heart beating a painful rhythm in his chest.

He sees Riario swallow, “I… I love you.” He says simply. Turning around to face Leo, he smiles almost sadly. “I love you and I don’t know what to do. You’re all I can think about, all I can focus on. All those nights away from you… They were so _painful_. Everyday I wake up, every single moment I am awake all I want to do is be with you, to make you happy, to see you smile.” He chokes, “Loving you is consuming me.”

Leo feels a rush of emotions, and without thinking, he moves to grab the other man, pulling him into a tight embrace.

“You idiot.” He growls, burying his face into Riario’s shoulder. “You _fucking_ idiot…”

Leo feels Riario tentatively wrapping his arms around him. “I thought you were breaking up with me.” He mumbles against his collar. “I thought…”

“I don’t think that’s physically possible.” Riario replies shortly. “I never want to be apart from you.”

“So marry me.”

Leo leans away, cupping the sides of Riario’s face, smiling at the hope and disbelief he finds there. “Marry me Riario. Marry me and make me happy, make me smile. I love you too, and that’s all I ever wanted to do.”

“You’re serious.” Riario says, voice breaking. “You’re actually serious about this…”

Leo takes a chance, tilting his head to capture Riario in a kiss. “Marry me.” He whispers against his lips.

He can taste the smile when he hears, “Yes.”

 

 

[end.]


End file.
